Shadows of the Woods

Chapter 3

When we landed on the familiar, rocky shore of Ireland, Apollo and I simply held hands and stared.

Everything was the exact same, but everything was different. The trees were as straight as arrows, and they pointed up at the sky bravely. A bitter wind scraped my cheeks and made the leaves rattle on the trees.

What would we find in there? I thought to myself, looking at the silent tree line and the pale grey sky. Would Laen be waiting for us in there? Did I want to know if he wasn't?

We stood there for a while, almost half-hoping an alarming klaae woman with crimson skin and a black crossbow would emerge from the trees and charge at us again. However, Eisha didn't appear. The trees heralded no one to welcome us. After a few more moments, Apollo pulled gently at my hand and we walked quietly into the trees.

As we walked, I thought back to the last time I'd been here. How Eisha had carried us all the way to her kren, how she'd heralded the arrival of their "goddess", who I apparently resembled in both name and physical appearance. I smiled to myself, remembering how terrified I'd been when they'd brought a dead boy - or at least I thought he was dead - to my feet and asked me to heal them. The celebration after I'd performed CPR on him had been fantastic.

"How are we going to find it?" I asked Apollo as we walked. He held up a branch so I could walk under. "I thought we couldn't find the kren unless a klaae took us there."

"You're right." Apollo replied, matching his pace to mine. "We won't be able to find it unless someone guides us to the kren."

"So we're gonna try to find them?"

"No." He smiled in bemusement. "We're going to wait for them to find us."

And so we walked.

It might have been a few hours, or it might have been a few minutes. I couldn't tell anymore; I was too worried about Laen to keep track. He was one of the strongest warriors I'd seen at the battle for Tsingy de Bemahara; with muscles that rippled like water under his skin and a sure grip on his pole-ax, Laen could take anything and anyone that was thrown at him. However, this new enemy didn't have a face; it couldn't be struck down with an axe, and it could attack Laen from within. I chewed on my lip as I worried about him; he'd loved my mother with all of his heart, and the love he'd felt for her naturally transgressed to me. It hadn't taken me long to love him back.

When Apollo came to an abrupt stop, I almost banged into him.

"What - "

Peeking around his shoulder, I saw a beautiful faerie floating just a few feet in front of us. He seemed to be by himself; his large green eyes looked at us curiously, and his blonde hair shimmered in the weak light. I felt a jolt looking at him - although the Faerie War had ended, I still felt uneasy around faeries. My first encounters with them had been less than pleasant. I knew it wasn't fair, seeing as they had cooperated almost eagerly to make up for war damages, but I guess I'm just not good at letting things go.

The faerie in front of us was wearing a simple silver robe, and there didn't seem to be any weapon on him. He tilted his head and looked at us.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" He asked, his voice lilting and melodious.

Apollo shifted slightly in front of me. "We're looking for the kren."

The faerie smiled kindly. "Yes, I assumed that much. But haven't you heard? The kren has been closed off for health reasons. Only authorized personnel are allowed inside."

"Yes, I'm aware." Apollo nodded. "However, we are deeply worried about our friend, and we came all this way to see him."

The faerie was shaking his head though. "I'm sorry, but I can't permit that - "